Teachable Moments: Machiavelli understood how to acquire, retain power

7:56 AM,
May 3, 2013

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In the 15th century, Florence was one of the largest cities in Europe; a center for banking, art, music and science, its influence far exceeded the reach of its relatively small population. The Medici family, who were bankers to the Pope, controlled the putatively democratic city by choosing who got jobs and who would be elected to the city council, though they never held political office themselves.

Florence was the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, and Lorenzo de' Medici was its primary patron. He assumed power in 1469, when he was 20 years old, and exercised tight political control ...